Looking forward into 2018, it somehow feels like this upcoming year will be an upswing, a positive correction to a year that put many of us up on blocks. Admittedly, Sobre Sound has been absent of late, but that does not mean we weren't paying attention or not participating.

Artists to Watch: Here are a handful of artists from the San Antonio & Austin area to keep an eye on: Kyle Dixon, Moving Panoramas, Jonah Conrad, Jorge Aguilar.

photo Miles Terracina - Bob Moses

Festivals: Botanica has yet to release a full lineup or any other details a mere 8 weeks away from opening gates. Maverick Fest hasn't said a peep about 2018. There has yet to be any information on Euphoria Fest. Sound on Sound investors pulled out last minute in 2017, we're hoping for a 2018 installment in some form. Levitation is happening in 2018 but as a collection of individually ticketed events in downtown Austin. We've all come to terms that FunFunFunFest will no longer return. Free Press Summer Fest has been rebranded as In Bloom and comes with a new spring date. Middlelands will not return in 2018 to the RenFair grounds outside of Houston. The only givens in TX's 2018 festival forecast: ACL, Day For Night, Mala Luna, Jmblya, and Psyche Del Rio (maaybe a Float Fest 2018).

photo courtesy of Jazz, TX

Business and Policy: San Antonio Music Commission will likely become a real thing and commissioners have yet to be named. 2018 will see more of Phantom Room and will be void of Korova. Stubb's will be changing their name some time soon. In a lawsuit with the owner of McCormicks, the company owns the rights to the name. Many anticipate Stubb's will become Liberty Lunch. The fate of the San Antonio Symphony is in jeopardy.

2017 Stories Worth Repeating: The San Antonio Sound Garden business report found data confirming our suspicions of the state of the music business in San Antonio. Not many musicians make a full time paycheck from their music endeavors and San Antonio is thin on recording studios or other music opportunities. In a story published The Rivard Report, vinyl sales at record stores in San Antonio are enough to maintain several popular locations like Hogwild, Friends of Sound and Southtown Vinyl.